Spanning more than 840 miles, which is longer than the drive from Augusta, Ga. to New York City, Nullarbor Golf Links will claim to be the world's longest golf course when it officially opens for play on Oct. 22. It's the kind of overindulgence and extravagance you'd expect to find in America, but this course is a collection of golf holes set upon the desolate and arid terrain of the Australian Outback.
The 842-mile, par-71 golf course will traverse the almost treeless, limestone Nullarbor Plain that covers a wide stretch of land from South Australia to Western Australia. Depending on your pace of play, and how fast your drive, the golf course will take about four days to finish.
The Associated Press reported that the course cost $640,000 to build, with a third of the cost picked up by a department of the Australian government that promotes tourism. Greens Fees will be a modest $40, but you'll spend your money on fuel and lodging in order to get from hole to hole. Players will have their scorecard stamped like a passport after they complete each hole.
Seven of the course's 18 holes are taken from exisiting courses, while another 11 are built using synthetic tees and greens, and natural terrain for fairways.
The reasoning behind the course isn't all that different than the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama.
"The course will provide a much needed attraction along the highway," Nullarbor's Web site reads. "It will slow traffic down and encourage visitors to stay longer, and hence spend more time and money in the region.
The project's manager, Alf Caputo, told the USA Today, "You can imagine that international tourists will have never seen anything like it in their lives, and that would include Aussies too."
This project is a novelty tourist attraction as much as it is a golf course. Using the criteria set forth by the developers of Nullarbor Links, someone could select 18 holes from Jacksonville to San Diego along Interstate 10 and build a much longer course. I could also have a beer in my backyard in Philadelphia and fly to Los Angeles to have a beer in a friend's backyard and claim it to be the world's largest bar room.
While the course has been designed to be relatively inexpensive and sensitive to the country's natural resources, what can easily be perceived to be a glaring example of wasteful spending and environmental malpractice is drawing criticism.
"Personally, I'm disgusted," one poster wrote under a story about the course in the UK's Daily Mail. "No doubt hundreds of trees have been uprooted and biodiversity destroyed to create a rich man's fantasy land."
On the other hand, the scenery along this stretch of barren highway is supposed to be awesome.
The largest stretch of straight highway road in Australia is included in the journey. After golfers complete a hole in Caiguna, they'll travel 90 miles without having to change direction in the slightest.
For information on this wasteful yet strangely wonderful golf course, visit www.nullarborlinks.com.